Platforms vie for adviser FUM

New wealth management platforms are carving out a share of the New Zealand market.

Thursday, April 13th 2017, 6:00AM

by Susan Edmunds

Consilium Platform and the new Boutique Adviser Alliance offer have both attracted significant sums over recent months.

Sources said that had resulted in money being moved from the big incumbent players, which had been accused of letting their investment in development lapse.

Nick Stewart, chief executive of Stewart Group, which operates BAA, said his platform was picking up mandates from the big providers. The platform has about $175 million on it at present but there were a number of businesses doing due diligence with a view to moving money over.

“A lot of people do have RFPs out in the market, looking for proposals. Some systems haven’t had a technology reboot for a long period of time.”

He said advice businesses wanted to position themselves to better take advantage of technology. That could be due in part to the looming advent of roboadvice, he said. ”That is being played out globally, it’s not just a New Zealand problem.”

Stewart said his firm had identified significant growth potential.

At Consilium, managing director Scott Alman agreed there was movement in the market as technology evolved. He said his platform had close to $1 billion, with new clients coming across all the time.

“In the past in New Zealand we’ve relied on institutions to hand-feed us a solution,” he said. “That hasn’t always been aligned with the needs of independent adviser firms.”

A spokeswoman for Aegis said it had long-term growth. FUA has lifted from $11.93 billion in March last year to $12.89b this year.

She said $305 million was transferred off the platform over the past year but that was offset by contributions from others. “Aegis continues to grow with our clients and is harnessing bank technologies. Aegis is investing in technology and its people as ASB looks to keep growing its wealth offering.”

A spokesman for the OneAnswer platform said he could not reveal how much money had moved on and off. “We are very happy with the FUM and the platform’s net growth in the past year which is well within our expectations.”

Tags: Aegis